USA > Ohio > Morrow County > History of Morrow County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 26
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at the present time serving as a member of the school board of his district. Ile takes a vital interest in all that conserves the indus- trial and social wellbeing of the community and is one of the repre- sentative exponents of the agricultural enterprise in his township. He has made excellent improvements on his farm, including the erection of good buildings, and he avails himself of the best modern facilities in the various departments of his farm work. Mrs. Brollier is a member of the Presbyterian church in Mount Gilead.
On the 2nd of September, 1880, Mr. Brollier was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ada Elliott, who was born on her father's farm in the northwest corner of Gilead township, Morrow county, on the 21st of July, 1859, and who is a daughter of the late Asa Elliott, one of the honored pioneers of the county. Concerning the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Brollier the following brief record is given : Lester E., who married Miss Minnie Rife, resides in Bellevue, Huron county, where he is engaged in the restaurant business ; Minnie E. is the wife of Rene Dailey and they reside on a farm in the vicinity of Cleveland, this state; George, who is engaged in railroad work, resides at Napoleon, Henry county; and Miss Nevada remains at the parental home.
PROFESSOR ARTHUR C. CORWIN .- A man of scholarly tastes and attainments, possessing a well trained mind and excellent executive ability, Professor Arthur C. Corwin, superintendent of the Iberia High School, holds a position of note among the leading educators of Morrow county, where his experience as an instructor has been largely gained. No calling has a wider-reaching and more potent influence than that of the educator and thus it is a matter of general congratulations to find the duties of an office such as his in the hands of one so well qualified. A son of Charles E. and Lucy (Gantt) Corwin, he was born October 2, 1883, in Sparta, Morrow county, Ohio, and there reared on a farm.
Laying a substantial foundation for his future education in the district schools, he was graduated from the Sparta High School, after which he continued his studies at the University of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio. Having fitted himself for the career pedagogic, Professor Corwin began his career as a district school teacher in his home township and subsequently was engaged by the schools of Mount Liberty, Knox county. In 1904 he was employed as super- intendent of the Alum Creek High School, where he remained one vear and the following year he was elected to a similar position in the Troy township high school, which position he held two years, resigning to accept his present position. It was in the year 1907 that the Professor was elected superintendent of the Iberia High School and he has ever since been actively connected with the insti- tution. Under his regime the school is in a flourishing condition, sustaining a high rank among similar institutions of learning in this part of the state. Mr. Corwin is highly esteemed in literary
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and social circles and takes deep interest in educational matters, as a member of the Morrow county Board of School Examiners performing the duties devolved upon him most ably and faithfully.
On the 6th day of June, 1906, Professor Corwin established an independent household by his marriage, his chosen lady being Mamie E. Cooper, of Williamsport, a former teacher in the public schools and a daughter of E. E. and Jora (Brewer) Cooper. They have one child, a son named Harold, born November 2, 1909. Politically the Professor is a sound Republican. Fraternally he be- longs to the Knights of Pythias and to the sons of Veterans, and re- ligiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
BRYANT M. MEREDITH .-- Noteworthy among the active and prominent citizens of Chesterville is Bryant M. Meredith, who for many years one of the leading merchants of the place and is now well known throughout this part of Morrow county as an under- taker. A native of Chesterville, Ohio, he was born August 25, 1870, being a son of the late George Meredith.
George Meredith imbibed the spirit of patriotism in his youth, and soon after the breaking out of the Civil war offered his services to his eountry, enlisting first in Company G, Twentieth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and at the expiration of his term of enlistment becoming a member of Company C, Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. During his service of four years, one month and thir- teen days in the army he took part in many campaigns and hard- fought battles. At the engagement of Stone river he was taken prisoner, and first confined at Castle Lightning and later in Libby prison, where, while sleeping, both of his hips were broken by a falling piece of timber. He married Minerva Ralston, and both died in early life, leaving their five children, Addie, Charles, Laura, Emma and Bryant M., to the care of their grandfather and grand- mother Meredith.
Doubly orphaned when but twelve years of age by the death of his paternal grandparents, Bryant M. Meredith was thrown upon his own resources, his only assets being a brave heart, willing hands and an unlimited amount of ambition and courage. Working faithfully at anything he could find to do, he was successful in his undertakings, and having accumulated some money embarked in mercantile pursuits in Chesterville, becoming junior member of the firm of Bonner & Meredith, which conducted a prosperous business for many years. Subsequently, in partnership with Fred Livings- ton, Mr. Meredith purchased an interest in an undertaking estab- lishment, and has since carried on a substantial business, being well patronized.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Meredith, although living in' a district that is distinctively Republican, has held various local offices, his election to the same being strong proof of the estecm and confidence in which he is held throughout the community, and
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proving his popularity with all classes of people. He has served as town clerk a number of terms; has been a member of the Chesterville Board of Education for eight years; and has three times been elected township treasurer.
Mr. Meredith married, May 12, 1898, Essie Howard, of Chester- ville, and they have one son, Miles Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Mere- dith are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and and numbered among its active workers. Mrs. Meredith was born in Morrow county, Ohio, a daughter of Benjamin Howard and a granddaughter of Jesse and Mary (Burns) Howard, natives, re- spectively, of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and pioneer settlers of Chester township, Morrow county, Ohio.
Benjamin Howard was born October 25, 1837, in Chester town- ship, Morrow county, and during his aetive career was engaged in agricultural pursuits, being a progressive and prosperous member of the farming community. A man of spotless intergrity, he was held in high esteem by his fellow-men, and his death, April 17, 1907, was a loss to the community. Mr. Howard married, October 28, 1858, Lydia J. Tims, who was born September 17, 1837, eoming from substantial pioneer ancestry. Her parents, James and Sarah Tims, natives of New Jersey, located in Ohio in 1839, being among the early settlers of Morrow county. They had a family of ten children, as follows: Phoebe, George, Sanford, Rubina, Jonathan, who became a successful physician; Watson, Alexander, Josiah, Melinda and Lydia J.
Four children were born of the union of Benjamin and Lydia (Tims) Howard. namely : Luther, Clarence D., Jesse and Essie. Luther Tin.s, who inherited a portion of the home farm and has built a substantial residence just aeross the road from the house in which his parents lived for so many years, married Hattie George, and they have one child, Ethel Esther, wife of Charles Hildebrand, by whom she has two children, Ruth Marie and Iris Elizabeth. Clarence D. Howard, who occupies a part of the old homestead, has remodeled the house, and is profitably employed in tilling the soil. His first wife, whose maiden name was Jennie M. Stillie, died July 1, 1887. He married second Nellie A. McCutch- eon, daughter of James and Elizabeth Mccutcheon, and they are the parents of seven children : Oakey, Earl, Bernice, Waldon, Lis- ter, Dorothea and Dwight. Jesse Howard, the youngest son, mar- ried Anna Graham, and they have five children, namely : Maurice, Hubert, Lulu, Elsie and Carrie. Essie Howard, the youngest daughter, became the wife of Bryant M. Meredith, the subject of this sketch.
Mrs. Benjamin Howard preceded her husband to the life beyond, passing away March 26, 1906. Both Mr. and Mrs. Howard were converted when young and united with the Baptist church in later years, however. uniting with the First Day Adventist ehureh, at Sparta. and thereafter being among its most honored and devoted inembers.
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WILLIAM A. FERGUSON .- Among the decidedly progressive and enterprising farmers of Troy township, Morrow county, Ohio, William A. Ferguson holds prestige as one whose suecess has been on a parity with his well directed efforts. He is the owner of "Spring Glenn Farm," comprised of three hundred and eighty- eight acres of most arable land and situated fourteen miles north- east of Mount Gilead, Ohio. In addition to his agricultural operations Mr. Ferguson is director in the Lexington Savings Bank, at Lexington, Ohio, and he is a heavy stockholder in the Morrow County Telephone Company. In all his business ventures Mr. Ferguson has met with unqualified success and he commands the unalloyed regard of his fellow citizens, both by reason of his sterling intergrity of character and his fair and honorable methods.
William A. Ferguson was born within the borders of North Bloomfield township, the date of his nativity being the 30th of July, 1858. He is a son of William R. and Mary S. (Morrow) Ferguson, both of whom have long sinee passed into the great beyond, the former on the 23rd of May, 1874, and the latter on the 19th of October, 1870. Following is a brief history of the Fergu- son family. Of four brothers, all of whom were born and reared to adult age in Scotland, one immigrated to the United States; one journeyed to Australia; one moved to Ireland and the fourth re- mained a true son of his native heath, passing practically his entire life in Scotland. John Ferguson was the brother who went to Treland and of his children, four sons and one daughter, all came to the United States, settling in the state of New Jersey, in the early Colonial epoch of our national history. One of the last mentioned, John Ferguson by name, was the great-grandfather of him to whom this sketch is dedicated. He was the father of a number of children. among whom one was David, who married Miss Lydia J. Robertson, who bore him two children, namely : William R. and Lydia J., the latter of whom became the wife of Robert W. White Mr. and Mrs. White were united in marriage on the 18th of February, 1841, and they now maintain their home in Warriek county, Indiana. After the death of his first wife, who died on the 7th of December, 1824, David Ferguson married Miss Nancy Ard. who died without issue.
William R. Ferguson, father of the subject of this sketch, was reared to adult age near Newville, in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, to the public schools of which place he is indebted for his preliminary educational training. As a young man he turned his attention to the pedagogic profession and he was en- gaged in that line of work in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He was a man of broad mind, being very well read, and he was a quick and ready debater. He was married, on the 13th of April, 1843, to Miss Mary S. Morrow, and two years later removal was made to Ohio. Leaving his wife at Mansfield, in Richland county, Mr. Ferguson came to what is now Troy township, Morrow county,
-
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and after looking about him for a time he purchased a farm in North Bloomfield township, to which he brought his family. In 1857 he erected a fine new farm house on his estate but the family had resided therein for scarcely a year when it was destroyed by fire. He then bought a tract of one hundred and fifty-four acres of land in Troy township, on which he resided during the residue of his life. He was a stock-grower and a wool buyer and he ac- cumulated quite a fortune during the strenuous days of the Civil war. He was one of the leading members of the Presbyterian church. in the various departments of whose work he was an active factor and in which he was an elder for a number of years. He was the father of seven children, all of whom are deceased except William A., of this review. Concerning the others the following brief data are here incorporated: David M. was a member of Company D, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, having en- listed for service in the same on his eighteenth birthday, August 8, 1861. He was a gallant and faithful Union soldier and sacrificed his life in defense of his country, his death having occurred on the 11th of January, 1862, on board the ship Louisiana. Mary J. died at the age of about eighteen years; Margaretta died when in her seventeenth year; Lydia I. passed away when nineteen years old; Emma was summoned to the life eeternal in her sixteenth year; and James B. died at the age of twenty-one years.
William A. Ferguson passed his boyhood and youth on the farm on which he was born and his educational advantages con- sisted of such training as could be procured in the district schools of Troy and Bloomfield townships. When twenty years of age he went west and passed one year in the states of Colorado and Wash- ington. He then returned to Ohio and soon thereafter was recorded his marriage, the date of which was September 9, 1879. After that important event location was made on what is now known as Spring Glenn Farm and which now consists of three hundred and eighty-eight acres of finely cultivated land, the same being located fourteen miles northeast of Mount Gilead, Ohio. Mr. Fer- guson is eminently successful as a farmer, the major portion of his time and attention being devoted to general agriculture and the raising of high-grade stock. He is a stockholder and one of the directors of the Lexington Savings Bank, at Lexington, Ohio. This substantial and reliable monetary institution is capitalized with a stock of twenty-five thousand dollars and is one of the best concerns of its kind in Ohio. Mr. Ferguson is also a stockholder in the Morrow County Telephone Company. He is a man of un- usual executive ability and finely developed business instincts.
On the 9th of September, 1879, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ferguson to Miss Emma J. Shauck, who was born on the 6th of January, 1860, and who is a daughter of Henry L. and Leah (King) Shauck. Henry L. Shauck was a son of Henry Shauck, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania. Henry Shauck, Sr., located
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in Richland county, where he entered as much as six hundred and forty acres of land. He was a civil engineer by profession and was a man of splendid education and many talents. Leah King was a daughter of Jacob King and as the wife of Henry Shanek she became the mother of six children, concerning whom the follow- ing brief data are here recorded: John J. resides in Richland county, Ohio; Albert K. maintains his home at Shelby, Ohio ; Emma J. is now Mrs. William A. Ferguson ; and Ermina, Ellen and Allen are deceased. Mrs. Ferguson was educated in the public schools of Richland county and she was for one year a student in the seminary at Lexington, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have been born five children : Lulu Blanche, born July 29, 1881, was grad- uated in the Johnsville High School and for a time was a student in the state university at Oxford, Ohio, after which she was en- gaged in teaching for four years prior to her marriage to J. W. Hirth, of Congress township, Morrow county, Ohio; Ethel B., born on the 17th of July, 1882, was graduated in the Johnsville High School, after which she was matriculated in the Normal School at Columbus, Ohio, and she is now a teacher in the city schools of Columbus, Ohio, as is also Bernice L., who was born on the 8th of February, 1885, and who received excellent educational advantages in her youth. Both daughters will enter the Ohio State University in 1916. William S., born on the 21st of July, 1895, is now a student in the Johnsville High School; and Mary K., born May 8, 1908, is the beloved baby of the family.
In their religious faith the Ferguson family are devout mem- bers of the United Evangelical church, in which Mr. Ferguson is class leader and superintendent of the Sunday school, in addition to which he is president of the Troy and Perry Sunday School Association. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with Johnsville Lodge, No. 469, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past noble grand; and Johnsville Grange, in which he is past mas- ter. He is also a director in the Partons' Mutual Relief Associa- tion, of Belleville, Ohio. While he has never been ambitious for the honors or emoluments of public office of any description, Mr. Ferguson has ever manifested that deep and sincere interest in public affairs which is prolific of so much good for the general welfare of the community and county at large. He is a man of fine principle, is conscientiously devoted to his duties as a husband and father and is everywhere accorded that unqualified esteem which is the outcome of sincere admiration and true friendship.
LEWIS C. MITCHELL .- It is always pleasing to the biographist or student to enter into an analysis of the character and career of a successful tiller of the soil. Of the many citizens gaining their own livlihood, he alone stands pre-eminent as a totally independent factor, in short "Monarch of all he surveys." His rugged honesty and sterling worth are the outcome of a close association with
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nature and in all the relations of life hie manifests that generous hospitality and kindly human sympathy which beget comradeship and which cement to him the friendship of all with whom he comes in contact Successfully engaged in diversified agriculture and the raising of cattle, sheep and horses, Mr. Lewis C. Mitchell is de- cidedly a prominent and popular citizen in South Bloomfield town- ship, where he has resided since 1865.
Near Mount Liberty, Knox county, Ohio, on the 6th of April, 1841, oceurred the birth of Lewis C. Mitchell, who is a son of Almond and Margaret (Hawkins) Mitchell, both of whom are deceased. The father was a son of Silvenus Mitchell, who was a eolonel in the war of 1812, in which several of his brothers served as gallant and faithful soldiers. The grandfather came to Ohio from Connecticut about the year 1800, he having been one of the early pioneers in this section of the fine old Buckeye state. Mr. Mitchell's parents were married in Knox county, Ohio, in 1836, and to them were born a family of fifteen children, twelve of whom grew to years of maturity. The names of the children are here entered in respective order of birth : Harris, Emer, Lewis (of this review), Alice, Betsey, Albert, Welthy, Torrence, Maria, William, Laura, Dana, Mary, and two who died in infancy, unnamed. Lewis C. Mitchell was reared to adult age under the influences of the old home farm in Knox county, in the district schools of which place he received his preliminary educational training. He left school when a youth of fifteen years of age and when nineteen years of age he engaged in farming on his own responsibility. As a young man he enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war, becoming sergeant of Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volun- teer Infantry. He was with his regiment until after the battle of Perryville, when he was discharged on aeeount of disability. After remaining at home for one year he had regained his health and then reenlisted for one hundred days service, being later appointed second sergeant. He participated in all the important battles in which his regiment took part and received his honorable discharge and was mustered out of service in 1864. After his marriage in 1861, Mr. Mitchell settled in Knox county, and in 1865 he located on his present fine farm in South Bloomfield township, the same being an estate of one hundred and fifty-seven acres of most arable land. In addition to general farming he devotes considerable attention to the raising of high-grade cattle, Delaine sheep and Pereheron horses. He has been decidedly successful in all his business ventures and as a stock-raiser is a man of prominence in Morrow county.
On January 1, 1861, Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage to Miss Lenora Orsborn, who was born and reared at Knox county, and who is a daughter of James and Sophronia (Thatcher) Orsborn, the latter of whom was a daughter of Thomas and Mary Thateher, of New Jersey. The Thatcher family came to Ohio
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from New Jersey in the early part of the nineteenth century and settlement was made in Knox county, where Thomas Thatcher entered a large tract of government land. James Orsborn was a resident of Morrow and Knox counties and is now deceased. He was a mechanic by occupation and was eighty-three years of age when he died. To Mr. and Mrs. Orsborn were born four children, namely : George, Jerusha, Curtis and Lenora, who is now Mrs. Mitchell. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are the parents of six children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated : Charles M., born July 17, 1861, is a mechanic at Bloomfield, Ohio, and he married Miss Carrie Corwin; Myrtle E., born November 24, 1863, is the wife of Charles Slack, of Sparta, and they have one son, Ray ; Lulu M., born May 12, 1866, is now Mrs. W. E. Wilson, of Sparta; W. Delano, born May 7, 1871, is engaged in the hard- ware business at Sparta, and he has three children, Harold, Pearl and Ferne; Edwin W., born July 9, 1873, is a mechanic at Sparta, and has one son, Donald; and Elmer C., born July 15, 1875, remains at the parental home. It is interesting to note at this juneture that of the twelve children in Mr. Mitchell's family each beeame the parent of six children except one.
Politically Mr. Mitchell is a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and while he has never manifested aught of ambition or desire for the honors or emoluments of public office he is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the general welfare of the community in which he has so long maintained his home. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with various organizations of a representative char- acter and he and his family are devout members of the Disciple church, to whose charities and benevolences he has ever been a mnost liberal contributor. He is a man of fine moral fiber, is well read and intelligent and as a citizen is deeply admired and respected by his fellow men.
DAVID FEIGLEY .- One of the well known citizens and extensive landholders of Canaan township, David Feigley is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Morrow county, where his father took up his abode prior to the organization of the county, the major portion of which was then a part of Marion county. The name has been worthily and prominently identified with the de- velopment of the agricltural resources of this favored section of the Buckeye state and he whose name initiates this review has well upheld its prestige. He is the owner of a valuable landed estate of three hundred and seven acres in the county and is one of the honored and influential native sons of said county, his fine homestead farm being located in Canaan township.
David Feigley was born on his father's pioneer farmstead one mile south of the present village of Climax, in Canaan township, and the date of his nativity was March 17, 1842. He is a son of Vol. II-15
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William and Lucinda (DeWitt) Feigley, the former of whom was born in the state of Maryland and the latter in Ohio. The father was ninety-two years of age at the time of his death and the mother passed to the life eternal at the age of seventy-three years. They were widely known in Morrow county, which represented their home for many years and which was the place of their death. The mother was a member of the Methodist church and their lives were up- right, generous and kindly. Of their sixteen children twelve were reared to years of maturity and of the number only four are now living: Samuel, who is a resident of Canaan township; David, who figures as the immediate subject of this review; Mary, who is the wife of Willie Simpson, of Union City, Indiana ; and Lucinda, who is the wife of Mitchell Kilgore, a representative farmer of Canaan township. The father came from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Ohio soon after attaining to his legal majority and he settled in that part of Marion county that is now Canaan township, Mor- row county. Here he reclaimed a farm from the forest and on the old homestead he reared his large family of children with all of solicitude and affectionate care, the while he encountered his full quota of the deprivations and vicissitudes which fell to the lot of the pioneer whose financial resources were limited. He was a man of strong character and impregnable integrity, and his name merits an enduring place on the roster of the worthy pioneers of Morrow county.
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